Dell XPS One: Answer to the iMac??

Cherokee · Dec 6, 2007

Have you all seen the ads for the new XPS One from Dell?

Is it actual competition for the iMac? What do you think?

XPS One - Clicky

D3v1L80Y · Dec 6, 2007

I think that AIO's are neither new nor anything to 'compete with' or 'answer to' Apple products.

Ryan13 · Dec 6, 2007

Well there certainly trying.

tacsniper · Dec 6, 2007

iMac looks and works better

Cherokee · Dec 6, 2007

D3v1L80Y said:
I think that AIO's are neither new nor anything to 'compete with' or 'answer to' Apple products.

AIOs are 'new' to Dell.

All personal computer retailers 'compete' with each other.

The way Apple promotes its products as superior is a clear signal that they are constantly 'answering' other companies.

mac57 · Dec 6, 2007

Not too much competition really. I think it looks ugly - really boxy looking. So far at least, you just can't beat Apple for the "cool" factor. I am surprised that Apple doesn't hold patents on the all-in-one design idea...

fleurya · Dec 7, 2007

I really like it. I think it's a lot better than Gateway's AIO and probably a tie with Sony's.

If you're talking strictly looks, I would actually take the Dell over the iMac. It's just because of the "chin". Honestly, I can't stand it. I think it's actually bigger on the new models, but it's masked by the black bezel around the screen. Instead the Dell has "ears" with the speakers, but at least they're symmetrical and balanced in the overall design, and offer a function as a reason for their presence.

Why can't a maker just have the screen only in front and put all the junk behind it and out of sight. I wouldn't mind the iMac being thicker as long as the face is nice and minimalistic.

mac57 said:
Not too much competition really. I think it looks ugly - really boxy looking. So far at least, you just can't beat Apple for the "cool" factor. I am surprised that Apple doesn't hold patents on the all-in-one design idea...

They can't really patent AIO, that's like patenting putting computer components in a box with a screen: any too general. Basically that would include any device with electronic components and some kind of display: laptops, vehicle nav systems, portable DVD players, etc.

dtravis7 · Dec 7, 2007

I was waiting for someone to mention the "CHIN" on the Mac. The new one is smaller. I have seen them side by side.

Hey, the Dell has a Card reader also and Vista!

baggss · Dec 7, 2007

Nice looking design, but they ruined it by cramming ports and what not on the side. Just putting them in the back would have been better. It's almost as if they had a good design and then had to over-think it at the last minute and mess it up.

skye · Dec 7, 2007

i like side ports better then the ones on the back on the imac, seems awkward, but then again i am mostly on a macbook anyways (i love portability)

Kash · Dec 7, 2007

baggss said:
Nice looking design, but they ruined it by cramming ports and what not on the side. Just putting them in the back would have been better. It's almost as if they had a good design and then had to over-think it at the last minute and mess it up.

The ports they stuck on the side seem to be appropriate since putting those on the back would just be annoying. I can see why the USB ports are there, to allow for easy connecting and disconnecting. The iMac provides this by putting the USB connectors on the keyboard, but since the XPS comes with a wireless keyboard, the extra ports had to go on the computer itself so as not to be "missing" USB ports.

I think it's a nice design for people who want an iMac design but not want to switch to OS X.

coach_z · Dec 7, 2007

it doesnt appear to be any better than the imac....lowest end model only beats the imac in amount of standard ram that it has

baggss · Dec 7, 2007

Kash said:
The ports they stuck on the side seem to be appropriate since putting those on the back would just be annoying. I can see why the USB ports are there, to allow for easy connecting and disconnecting. The iMac provides this by putting the USB connectors on the keyboard, but since the XPS comes with a wireless keyboard, the extra ports had to go on the computer itself so as not to be "missing" USB ports.

Meh, I suppose. My wife doesn't seem to have any problems with her iMac and the ports in the back (she has wireless keyboard). It's not very often she plugs or unplugs anything from them (her iPods have docks) so I guess I don't see the big deal. The ports in the back are not the big deal you think they are.

fleurya · Dec 7, 2007

baggss said:
Meh, I suppose. My wife doesn't seem to have any problems with her iMac and the ports in the back (she has wireless keyboard). It's not very often she plugs or unplugs anything from them (her iPods have docks) so I guess I don't see the big deal. The ports in the back are not the big deal you think they are.

Agreed, a simple and cheap USB hub takes care of that. It's terrible to ruin a nice, carefully crafted design by having wires sticking out the side.

Eric559 · Dec 7, 2007

I wouldn't mind having one of those.

Kash · Dec 7, 2007

baggss said:
Meh, I suppose. My wife doesn't seem to have any problems with her iMac and the ports in the back (she has wireless keyboard). It's not very often she plugs or unplugs anything from them (her iPods have docks) so I guess I don't see the big deal. The ports in the back are not the big deal you think they are.

Oh I agree that it's not a great design decision, I'm just giving the justification that the designers probably had in mind. Though I like your point that the designers over-thought it at the last minute ;P

vicariousgeorge · Dec 11, 2007

fleurya said:
Agreed, a simple and cheap USB hub takes care of that. It's terrible to ruin a nice, carefully crafted design by having wires sticking out the side.

You probably aren't going to have wires sticking out of the side. The Dell already has USB ports in the back (for permanent things like scanners, printers, docks, etc...). The ports on the side are additional, and are likely for temporary things such as flash drives, cameras, and the like. I actually think it was a great design decision.

Overall, I think it is a very sleek computer. In fact, I think it looks better than the iMac.

MACyMouse · Dec 12, 2007

They can compete with the look, make it look all pretty, but the key here is that it's still running windows.

macjuicy23 · Dec 12, 2007

Personally I think they should take some more time working on the operating system instead of concentrating so much on looking like apple....

Village Idiot · Dec 12, 2007

fleurya said:
I really like it. I think it's a lot better than Gateway's AIO and probably a tie with Sony's.

If you're talking strictly looks, I would actually take the Dell over the iMac. It's just because of the "chin". Honestly, I can't stand it. I think it's actually bigger on the new models, but it's masked by the black bezel around the screen. Instead the Dell has "ears" with the speakers, but at least they're symmetrical and balanced in the overall design, and offer a function as a reason for their presence.

Why can't a maker just have the screen only in front and put all the junk behind it and out of sight. I wouldn't mind the iMac being thicker as long as the face is nice and minimalistic.

They can't really patent AIO, that's like patenting putting computer components in a box with a screen: any too general. Basically that would include any device with electronic components and some kind of display: laptops, vehicle nav systems, portable DVD players, etc.

I believe Honda did hold some type of patent for placing the Intake opening for the air box of the RC51 motorcycle in the middle of the front fairing and between the headlights.

That's pretty generic.

Any ways, I saw a bunch of these at Best Buy on Saturday. No Dell AIO's of course, but a couple gateway and a I think a Sony. The Gateways were kind of ugly. Reminded me of the PS3 or a Monolith.